Wednesday, 26 September 2012

The DIY Weapons Of The Syrian Opposition

One increasingly common sight in the Syrian conflict are DIY weapons manufactured and used by the Syrian opposition. CJ Chivers has recently written two fantastic articles on the subject detailing four examples; truck mounted guns and DIY artillery in part one, and mortars and rockets in part two. Here I hope to give examples of some of the other DIY weapons I've discovered on my regular trawls through Syrian opposition Youtube channels.

Pipe Bombs

In the above video we see opposition fighters using what is becoming a popular DIY weapon, pipe bombs, simple metal tubes filled with explosives ignited by a simple fuse. In the following video we see how unexploded bombs (in this case an OFAB) are used as the source of the explosives for this weapon

There's also been several example of the pipe bombs being used in conjunction with slingshots to send them even further

How effect and accurate this is seems pretty questionable, but the use of slingshots like this has been spotted in a number of locations, so it seems a popular combination.

Rockets

CJ Chivers covers the production of rockets in great detail in his previously mentioned article, but what I'd like to highlight is how these are becoming an increasingly common sight in Syria, in particular Aleppo, such as these rockets recently used to attack the infantry school

Or this attack on a checkpoint in Aleppo

BMP Turrets

In the above video the Salman Al Farisi brigade show off a BMP turret they've attached to a trailer, something some of you might remember being done in the Libyan Civil War, as shown below

Rifle Grenades

This video demonstrates the more sophisticated end of Syrian opposition weapon manufacturing, showing rifle grenades being manufactured in a machine shop, then demonstrated.

Recoilless Rifles

Again, another example of a machine shop being used to manufacture a weapon and ammo, this time a DIY recoilless rifle. Judging by the amount the barrel jumps when it's fired it's questionable how accurate this is, but it's certainly got a hell of a kick to it.